Religion is as old as humanity and it has
played a dominant role along the course of the history of human
life and thought. It has, in its primitive days, tried to explain
to man some of the mysteries of the Universe,1 to
reconcile him with the insecurity of his future, to unfold and
interpret the relationship between his body and soul, and to
guide him constantly in the redress of misery and suffering, and
in the search for real happiness. It has also tried to answer
outstanding questions regarding the relation of man and the
Universe; man and his many sided duties, his goal of life, and a
compatible path leading to the same, etc. Great seers and sages,
in different periods and in different parts of the world, have
answered, in their own ways, these and such other questions; and
their words, in due course of time, have saturated as the
doctrines and creeds of their respective religions. Ethical
precepts, conceived and laid down for the attainment of man's
goal of life, though varying in number, nature and vigor, they
happen to be more or less the common constituent factors of
almost all the religions of the world. However, some religions
differ as regards the existence of God, his attributes and his
reign or control over the Universe, and its contents at large.

Jainism, the real contribution of which to
human thought is being recognized, since the time of its being
brought, within the purview of western critical scholarship and
research (i.e, from about the latter part of the 19th century),
is a significant religion, among those born and cradled in India
(and outside too), for its antiquity, as well as, its lofty
philosophical and ethical doctrines, though it has today just 3.9
million followers, numerically, forming a very small segment of
the total Indian population, i.e., mere 0.48 per cent of it and,
thus, ranking the 6th and the last religious group after the
Hindus, the Muslims, the Christians, the Sikhs and the Buddhists.2

According to Jain tradition, twenty-four
Tirthankaras (Ford-makers i. e., Layers of Path leading to
Perfection) or Jinas (Winners of Victory over the senses)
preached the Sacred Law in the present Cycle of Time. Rsabha was
the first to reveal the Ahimsa - dharma and higher values of
life, to bring a good order in the society, and to lay an ideal
path to perfection. Mahavira was the last to elucidate and
promulgate the Law in historical times; and it is known as
Jina-dharma, Jinism in its correct form, but called, and used as
Jainism in practice. In the early days of Jainological Studies,
different views, some based on inadequate material, were held on
some part of the history and antiquity of Jainism. But on the
strength of modern researches, we can say now that Jainism is not
an off-shoot of the Vedic line of thought, as developed in the
reformist school of the later Upanisadic tradition, is far older
than Buddhism, and had its origin in the Pre-Aryan period of
primitive currents of religious and metaphysical speculation, as
prevailing in the early Sramanic culture of North East India. The
stream, of which, could be traced back to the days of the Indus
Civilization3 itself. Dr. Jyoti Prasad Jain has
recently put forth his thesis, that Jainism is the oldest living
religion.4

Coming to the philosophical side of Jainism,
the doctrine of Anekantavada (non-absolutism), being upheld by
the peculiar dialectical method of Syadvada as supplemented by
Nayavada,5 the conception of Reality as divided into
six fundamental substances (dravyas),6 and the theory
of karma are the unique aspects of Jaina philosophy with their
comprehensive nature and realistic approach, etc.7 It
makes the individual self-reliant who is the architect of his own
fortune or misfortune. There is no place here for the priestly
agency or divine intervention for seeking one's mundane welfare
or final salvation. God as creator, and controller of the
Universe, and distributor of favors, and punishments for worldly
beings is not admitted here. At this context, Dr. G. C. Pande's
observations are worth noting: "Sramanic atheism is not a
variety of irreligion but of religion. It faces the evil and
suffering of life squarely, and attributes it to human failing
rather than to the mysterious design of an unknown being. It
stresses the inexorableness of the moral law. No prayers and
worship are of any avail against the force of karman. It
emphasises self-reliance for the quest of salvation. Man needs to
improve himself by a patient training of the will, and the
purification of the fee1ings. Such purification leads to an
inward illumination, of which the power is innate in the Soul or
mind. This is quite different from the Vedic view where
illumination comes from outside, either from the eternally
revealed word or from the grace of God."8

Jaina ethical doctrines, too are of immense
significance. Hence, some scholars and thinkers have envisaged
Jainism as Ethical Realism.9 Jaina ethics, having its
root in metaphysics, permeated with practical features and having
nirvana or moksa (emancipation or liberation) as its goal, trains
one to attain it, through the systematized cultivation and
assimilation morality, which are known as rules of conduct. All
this amounts to the Right Conduct (Samyak-caritra), which is
based on the Right Belief (Samyag-drsti) in, and the Right
Knowledge (Samyag-jnana) of the Seven Principles (tattvas),
leading to liberation (nirvana or moksa). The corpus of rules of
Right Conduct are also termed as Ethical Discipline
(acara-dharma) prescribed for the Community (Jaina-sangha) as a
whole, which is a four fold social organization consisting of
sadhu (monk), sadhvi (nun), sravaka (layman) and sravaki (layman)
ad sravaki (laywoman). It has two-fold objective:

It accomplishes spiritual purification and
emancipation by liberating the soul from the clutches of
karma.

It trains the members of the community to
cultivate and acquire an attitude of equality towards all
the living beings, and also to nourish sanctity for each
individual and his possessions. Such ethical discipline
is properly graded to suit the capacity, equipment and
environment of every individual.

It is prescribed in two forms: one is the
rigorous and prefect for the monk and the other, naturally, less
rigorous and partial for the householder, who has to shoulder
numerous family and other social responsibilities. The first is
known as yatyaca or mundharma (Ethical Discipline for the Monk),
and the second, sravakacara or Sravaka dharma (Ethical Discipline
for the Householder). This two-fold Ethical Discipline can be
said to have been mainly represented by a set of five vows-rules
of conduct (which, of course, are followed by a number of
different secondary vows and virtues of protective and regulative
nature).

The five vows are ahimsa (non violence), satya
(truthfulness), asteya (non-stealing), brahmacarya (chastity),
and oparigraha (non-acquisition). When prescribed for the
house-holder, these are called anu-vratas -small or parital vows,
and maha-vratas - great vows, to be rigorously and perfectly
practiced by the monk. It is so very important to note at this
juncture, that the conception and organization of the
Jaina-Sangha and the nature and arrangement of these vows in two
forms, with their complementary and consistent characteristics,
duly serve both the socioeconomic needs, and religio-spiritual
objects of the community as a whole. Moreover, the first of these
vows viz. ahimsa (non-violence or non-hurting), is the cardinal
vow, widely known as the doctrine of ahimsa, and holds a pivotal
position in the entire super structure of this Ethical
Discipline.12 Not only this, but all the doctrines of
Jainism are said to revolve around this doctrine of ahimsa.
Hence, Jainism is often designated as Ahimsa-dharma.

Moreover, it is now an established fact that no
religion of the world has so far given such primacy for the all
pervading moral precept of ahimsa as has been done by Jainism. It
is also a well-known fact that in the whole of this
violence-stricken world today, the Jaina house-holders (Sravakas
and Sravakis) are the only people who give considerable
importance to non-violence or non-hurting (ahimsa), and bring it
into practice in their daily life according to their capacity.
This significant phenomenon, it is heartening to note, is drawing
now the attention of even the western world to the extent that
recently, in June 1985, 'Jaina Community' came to be taken as an
inter- disciplinary subject for the ' First Inter-national
Seminar on Jainas as a Community which was sponsored by the
Department of Social Anthropology at the reputed University of
Cambridge (U.K.), wherein, a number of Social scientists from
different parts of the world participated. 13 I do
not, of course, mean to profess here that every member of the
Jaina community today is sravaka or sravaki in the true or
technical sense of the term.13A But we can actually
see that a good many of them, even to this day, practice
sravakacara (Ethical Discipline or Code of Conduct for the
Householder), which could, naturally, be its latest 20th century
phase, proving thereby its long, unbroken, active and purposeful
existence from a hoary antiquity. So, now, it would be
interesting, as well as, enlightening to have a critical view of
sravakacara (the lay doctrine) with reference to the basic texts,
and bring out its significance and its relevance to the present
times.

REFERENCES:

1. Of course, this realm later, came to belong
to Science for the discovery of order in the phenomena of nature.

2. (i) These figures are as per the 1981
census. (ii) It may also be noted, that the Jainas have always
constituted a small religious minority of Indian society
throughout their historical existence. (iii) For further details
on this point, vide A Demographic Analysis on Jains in India, by
Shri M. K Jain, Jain Journal, Vol. XXI, No. 2. (iv) Some
inquisitive persons think that the figures of the 1981 census are
not correct owing to wrong entries made under the 'Dharma'
column. On the ground of some private survey, they estimate that
the number of followers of Jainism is still, far bigger. Vide
Shri Ramanlal Sheth, Conference Sandesa (Bombay), July 1989.

3. (i) During the infancy of Jaina studies,
some scholars held Jainism to be a later branch of Vedic
religion, others that of Buddhism, etc. Moreover, in the
Cambridge Lectures of Prof. Max Muller, delivered in 1882 and
pub1ished in the book form, entitled India: What can teach us ?
(Indian edition, by K. A. Nilkantha Shastri, Longmans Green Ltd.,
i934), there is not a single reference to Jainism, though it was
once to Buddhism. (ii) I need not discuss here all details on
this point, but just refer to some of the important sources: (a)
Prof. Hermann Jacobi, Studies in Jainism, pp. 3-4; (b) Mrs.
Gusheva N. R., Jainism, pp. 20 25; (c) Dr. A. N. Upadhye, Preface
to his Pravacanasara (d) Dr. G. C. Pande, sramana Tradition (Its
History and Contribution to Indian Culture), particularly Lecture
I, p. 2.

4. In his booklet, Jainism: The Oldest Living
Religion.

5. (i) Dr. D. S. Kothari points out that the
eminent scientist Neils Bohr's Principle of Complementality,
which is a significant and revolutionary concept of modern
physics, is philosophically very close to the concept of
Syadvada. For a fund of valuable details on this subject, in his
paper on Modern Physics and Syadvada, Jeet Abhinandana Grantha,
Part 11, pp. 187- 199. (ii) (a) Dr. Dayanand Bhargav thinks that
Syadvada has almost become a synonym for Jainism. Jaina Ethics,
Preface, p. vii. (b) He also, observes that Jaina ethics is based
on the fundamental doctrine of Anekanta--non-absolutism. Op.
Cit., p. 37. He appears to have considered the doctrine of
Anekanta as the doctrine of Ahimsa or the plane of thought.

6. Dr. M. L. Mehta writes; (i) "None of
the realists tried to divide Reality exactly in the same sense as
Jainism did." It may be noted that Jainism resolves the
Whole of the Universe of being (Reality) into two uncreated,
everlasting, co-existing, and independent categories of ajiva and
jiva. Ajiva is further divided into pudgala (matter), dharma
(principle of motion), adharma (principle of rest), akasa (space)
and kala (time). (ii) "The conception of dharma and adharma
as the categories of substance is the unique contribution of
Jaina Philosophy." Outlines of Jaina Philosophy, pp. 29 and
34.

7. Op. cit. p. 74.

8. Sramana Tradition, Lecture IlI, p. 73.

9. Justice T. K. Tukol remarks: "Jaina
ethics is the most glorious part of Jainism and it is simply
itself." Compendium of Jainism, p. 195.

11. To elucidate this system at some length,
the monk is enjoined to preserve, preach and perpetuate the
Sacred Law and to guide the house-holder in his
religious-spiritual pursuit. The householder, on the other hand,
sticking to enjoined ethical code of conduct, discharges his
family and other socio-economic duties and creates proper
conditions for the monks rigorous course of life. Moreover,
the householder, whose pious life is a kind of training in the
ascetic life, later, at a certain stage, enters the monks
life himself.

12. Dr. K. C. Sogani has recently endeavoured
to show that the entire Jaina ethics tends toward the translation
of the Principle of Ahimsa into practice: vide his Preface,
Ethical Doctrines in Jainism, p. XI.

13. (i ) For details in this regard, vide Dr.
V.A. Sangavi's Presidential Address, Jaina Sangha and Society
Section, First All India Conference of Prakrit and Jaina Studies,
Varanasi, Jan. 1988, Souvenir of P.V.R.I. Golden Jubilee and this
Conference- Smarika, Varanasi, 1988. (ii) The Publication of the
Volume containing the deliberations and findings of this Seminar
is awaited.

13A. My close observation, and a little of
field work in my home (Belgaum) District, have shown me that even
to this day, there are found, here and there, such pious
house-holders who follow this code of conduct after accepting the
twelve fold vow at the hands of their teachers. One Shri
Dattubhai Kothadia, a land lord-cum-banker, a svetambara sravaka
of Nipani, observed even the vow of acamla-Vardhamana that spread
over the span of l9 years. Shri Annasaheb Khot, an agriculturist,
a Diagmbara sravaka of Shamnevadi, never allowed pesticides to be
used in his farms.